In this week’s featured CIAA matchup, the Fayetteville
State Lady Broncos travel to Shaw to take on the nationally ranked
Lady Bears in a greatly anticipated matchup of the top teams in the
Southern Division. Eleventh ranked Shaw has won nine games in
a row appears to be rolling towards yet another Southern Division
title. Standing in the way is Fayetteville State, winners of
eight of their last nine games and bent on dethroning the defending
champs. The tipoff in this pivotal Southern Division contest
is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Shaw’s Spaulding Gymnasium.

Shaw Lady Bears: As expected, the Lady Bears
lead the conference with a 17-2 record and sit atop the Southern
Division with a 3-0 record. Since a 79-50 loss to Elizabeth
City State back on January 5, Shaw has reeled off nine wins in a
row. During that stretch, the Lady Bears are outscoring
opponents by an average score of 82-59. The Lady Bears lead
the CIAA in several statistical categories including points per
game (79.6), rebounds per game (50.2), rebound margin (+14.4), and
assists per game (16.6). Senior Taylor Dalrymple leads a
balanced Shaw squad. The 6-1 forward averages 15.7 points and
a league-high 9.2 rebounds per game. Right behind her is
guard Ronika Ransford at 15.6 points per game.

Fayetteville State Lady Broncos: In what
continues to be one of the best stories of the 2012-13 season, the
FSU Lady Broncos continue to defy preseason prognosticators with
their stellar 16-3 record. Picked to finish fifth in the
Southern Division, the Lady Broncos are 8-1 in the conference and
in second place in the division with a 2-1 record.
FSU’s remarkable turnaround has been bolstered by the
addition of transfers Kristen Hanzer and Shuanda Ashford to the
starting lineup. Hanzer, a versatile guard who started her
career at Division I UNC-Wilmington, is the CIAA’s second
leading scorer at 18.5 points per game. She also leads the
league in steals with 3.6 per game and is eleventh in rebounding at
6.4 per game. East Carolina transfer Ashford is sixth in the
league in scoring at 13.8 points per game and ninth in rebounding
at 6.7 boards per game. The Lady Broncos had won seven in a
row before a surprising 83-78 loss at Livingstone on Wednesday;
proof that there are no nights off in the CIAA. They bounced
back on Saturday to down Winston-Salem State and head into their
midweek showdown with Shaw on a winning note. Fayetteville
State is second in the league in scoring behind Shaw at 73.0 points
per game. They’re also the league’s best shooting
team at 44.8 percent per game.

Taylor Dalrymple led all scorers with 26 points and 14 rebounds
as Shaw won its ninth straight with a 97-74 win over Saint
Augustine’s. Ronika Ransford added 16 points and
Crystal Harris scored all of her 14 points in the second half as
the Lady Bears pulled away from the Lady Falcons in the second
half.

Fayetteville State 61
Winston-Salem State 56

After trailing 26-19 at halftime, the Lady Broncos outscored
Winston-Salem State 42-30 in the second en route to a 61-56 win on
Saturday at Capel Arena. Akysia Resper scored 16 points to
lead four players in double figures. Tierra Coleman (14
points), Kristen Hanzer (12 points), and Shuanda Ashford (11
points) all scored in double figures as the Lady Broncos improved
to 16-3 and 8-1 in the CIAA.

LAST
MEETING:
February 18, 2012

Five Lady Bears scored in double digits and Shaw hit 30 of 33
free throws in an 80-70 victory over Fayetteville State. Shaw
improved to 18-6 overall, 13-1 in the conference and 7-1 in the
Southern Division. The loss dropped FSU to 11-13, 4-10 in the
CIAA and 3-5 in the division. Among returning players Crystal
Harris had 11 points and Sequoyah Griffin added ten for Shaw.
Akysia Resper led FSU with 17 points.